Congrats on the 1/3 octave equalizer. You probably need to look up that article that showed the raw ribbon frequency response as a starting point. If I recall correctly the bump is fairly wide, and response gets a bit ragged at the top.

I just wouldn't like one more A to D and D to A conversion in the chain. There is an S/PDIF all digital one, but I'm not sure where I'd put it in the signal path. My Sunfire has digital out, but not many pre's do. An all digital one certainly wouldn't be good for non-digital sources, or multiple digital sources.

That's what I have. If you have to have an EQ, IMO everyone here would be happier with the results if they spent $500-$700 on a high quality analog unit like the Rane instead of $100 on a cheap POS like the Behringer.

I also posted this to another thread, but it may be more applicable here:

I am re-building my HT system now with separates (I used to have a NAD receiver). Given the equipment now at my disposal, I want to know people's opinions about what configuration might work best. I have B&W Matrix 805 speakers for my fronts and center channel and B&W 601 speakers for the rear (these are more efficient). I have two Carver multi-channel amps at my disposal - 1) an AV 405 (100x2, 100x1, and 50x2, but with power steering theoretically); 2) a 806x (which will return from Rita's in a few weeks) that is 6x133 watts. All of my speakers already have two sets of posts for the wires, and I have thus far been bi-wiring. I was thinking of bi-amping....which of these options makes more sense?:

1) Just bi-amp my fronts with the 806x using two channels per speaker? Then, I could use either the two 100 watt channels from the 405 for the rears, or bi-amp the 405 using the 100 watt channels for bass and the 50 watt channels for the highs. Either way, I would not be using the 110 watt channel on the 405.

2) Bi-amp the fronts using the 806x for bass (i.e. 133 watts) and the 405 for the highs (100, 110, 100 for L,C,R) and run the rears just using channels from the 806x - this would leave one channel of the 806x unused and the 50 watt channels of the 405 unused.

3) Bridge the 806x into three channels of 360 watts into 8 ohms each for the fronts and center and use the 405 to power the rears

Since both of these amps have this power steering feature, theoretically wattage would not be wasted with empty channels since power would be steered to those channels that need them.

I know this is a bit complex, and I am a newbie at this kind of stuff, but any advice on an optimal configuration?

I just want to get the most quality out of my speakers, especially for music. This is all in a fairly small room about 14'x10'

Can't you configure that AV806 into a 5 channel amp? Your problem is that you have 11 channels at your disposal and 5 speakers (and potentially 7). I wouldn't mind if you wasted a pair of equal channels (as you could use them when you went 7.1, and never say never), but I'd want you to waste the two 50 WPC ones. If you could bridge a pair of the AV806 channels and use it on the center as part of the biamp, and use the other four for your mains and surrounds, then go with the bi-amp with the AV405 on the front (100, 110, 100) and the surrounds (50, 50), as pictured below

Thanks - that looks completely doable. I will try that configuration when my 806x returns. In general, I guess highs need less power and bass needs more, right? That is why it is better to use the 405 for the highs? The 806x is easy to bridge - so I can definitely bridge the bass for the center channel.